An interesting chess game is currently going on in Pakistan between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Gen Asim Munir.
Bilal Bin Saqib, special assistant to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has been removed from his post, he has packed his bags and reportedly shifted to Dubai.
Bilal was till recently the crypto czar of Pakistan. He was the CEO of Pakistan Crypto Council. The council was launched to regulate and integrate blockchain technology and digital assets with the financial system.
It was Army Chief Gen Asim Munir who had manoeuvred to put Bilal as special assistant to the Prime Minister. Bilal has close connections with people in the Trump administration. Reportedly, it was he who arranged the invitation for Gen Munir to attend the luncheon meeting with President Donald Trump in the White House.
The removal of Bilal as Special Assistant to PM is being considered a setback for Munir. Pakistani media circles are speculating whether former PM Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shehbaz had a hand in removing Bilal from the PMO.
Meanwhile, the notification for appointing Gen Asim Munir as Chief of Defence Forces is yet to be published. Gen Munir’s term as Army Chief ended on November 29 and there is still suspense about the notification.
The timing of Bilal’s removal and the delay in notifying the CDF indicate that all is not well between the Sharif brothers and Asim Munir.
After the Pakistani army got a severe thrashing at the hands of India during Operation Sindoor, Asim Munir had used Bilal for forging close relations with Donald Trump, a cryptocurrency fan.
Both the sons of the US President, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr are in the crypto business. A deal was struck with World Liberty Financial owned by Trump’s family members and Bilal was used to brush up Pakistan’s image in the inner circle of Donald Trump.
Now that Bilal has been sacked from the PMO, there are media speculations that Munir has sent a message to Imran Khan in jail for a patch-up in order to sideline Shehbaz Sharif.
The removal of Bilal from PMO is clear indication that the Sharif brothers have stopped patronizing Gen Asim Munir. The brothers do not want to give unlimited powers to Asim Munir as Chief of Defence Forces. Gen. Munir had been flexing his muscles since his luncheon meeting with Donald Trump.
The question arises, whether Asim Munir will now be sidelined? Already Pakistan’s Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu has met Nawaz Sharif and there are media speculations that the air chief may be opposing the move to install Asim Munir as CDF.
Nobody can say who will have the upper hand in the chess game between Shehbaz Sharif and Asim Munir. Time will tell.
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